Consider using the international dating convention of day-month-year rather than the U.S. convention of month-day-year. As reported in the 1 June 1999 Wall Street Journal： (来源：英语杂志 http://www.EnglishCN.com)

　　“The quirky U.S. style of date-writing is giving way to the day-first standard used by most of the world.

　　…… Both the MLA style guide and the Chicago Manual of Style support the day-first format. 'You get rid of the comma that way，' says Joseph Gibaldi， director of book acquisition for the MLA in New York.“

　　If you are sending a fax or email， then type the time next to the date. While letters “cross in the mail” in days， faxes and emails “cross in the wires” in hours and minutes.

　　Remind your client to preserve attorney-client confidentiality. Sometimes clients show your letters to others without realizing they can lose the attorney-client privilege of that communication. Add this phrase at the top of the letter to remind them not to do this：

　　CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATION

　　DO NOT COPY OR DISCLOSE TO ANYONE ELSE

　　If the letter is written during or in anticipation of litigation， the following phrase can be used：

　　CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATION

　　AND WORK PRODUCT

　　DO NOT COPY OR DISCLOSE TO ANYONE ELSE

　　Be sure to use the recipient's correct legal name and address. Your letter may be relied upon for its accuracy， so be accurate. Verification of names can be obtained from the public records， the phone book， or the webstes. And when it comes to middle initials， never rely on your memory or guess at it because most of the time you'll be wrong.

　　Indicate the method of delivery if other than mail. If being faxed， include the fax number and telephone number. If being sent by FedEx， state whether it is by overnight or second day. If being sent by email， state the email address. This will make it easy for your staff person to send it to the correct place， and it will document for your file how it was sent.

　　Include a fax notice. When sending by fax， include a notice in case it is sent to the wrong number. Here is the notice I use at the top of my letterhead when sending a fax：

　　NOTICE： This is privileged and confidential and intended only for the person named below. If you are not that person， then any use， dissemination， distribution or copying of this is strictly prohibited， and you are requested to notify us immediately by calling or faxing us collect at the numbers above.

　　Date Sent ________ Time Sent ________ Number of Pages ________

　　Person Who Conf'd Receipt _________

　　After sending a fax， call the recipient to confirm receipt and write that person's name in the space provided. Never rely on the fax machine itself to confirm a fax transmission； fax machines do not yet have the credibility of a human witness.

　　The Corpus of the Litterae

　　The body of the letter is why you are writing it. You succeed by leaving the reader with full knowledge of why you wrote the letter and what it means. You fail by leaving the reader dumbfound and clueless as to why you sent such a letter. While most letters fall somewhere in between these two extremes， following these suggestions will keep your letters on the successful end of the scale.

　　Identify your client. It is important to let others know who is your client at the earliest opportunity. This accomplishes a great deal. First， it tells the reader that your client has a lawyer. This makes your client happy because most clients want the world to know they have a lawyer. Second， it tells the reader that you are not the reader's lawyer. This makes your malpractice carrier happy because it's one less person who's going to sue you claiming they thought you were representing them when， in fact， you were not.

　　Identifying your client is an ethical concern， as well. Florida Bar Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 4-4.3 says：

　　“In dealing on behalf of a client with a person who is not represented by counsel， a lawyer shall not state or imply that the lawyer is disinterested.”

　　Therefore， the first time you write someone a letter， the letter should open with the following sentence： “I represent _________.” After that， every time you write another letter reconfirm who you represent by referring to your client by name and as “my client.”

　　State the purpose of the letter. Why leave the reader guessing？ Go ahead and say right up front why you are writing the letter. Here are some opening sentences：

　　“The purpose of this letter is to _________.”

　　“This letter is to inform you that _________.”

　　“My client has instructed me to _________.”

　　“This is to confirm that _________.”

　　“This confirms our phone conversation today in which _________.”